Hydraulic fracturing is the enabling technology that currently allows the oil and gas industry to extract oil and gas from a tight, low-permeability rock formation such as shale. In hydraulic fracturing, a fluid is provided under pressure to a subsurface formation such as shale to create fractures in the formation thereby releasing hydrocarbon gases or liquids from the formation. However, even with the best available technology, only a small percentage of the hydrocarbons present in the formation actually become available for extraction through hydraulic fracturing. Accordingly, even a small improvement in hydraulic fracturing efficiency will allow for a vastly larger volume of hydrocarbons from tight rock formations to be produced.